Frequency-Following Responses for Objective Neurophysiological Monitoring in Pediatric Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder: A Proof of Concept Case Study During Non-Invasive Neuromodulation.

Background/

Objectives

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) is a preventable neurodevelopmental condition associated with dysfunction of fronto-subcortical networks affecting attention, executive function, and behavioral regulation. Central auditory processing difficulties frequently persist despite preserved peripheral hearing, complicating clinical evaluation when behavioral testing is limited or unreliable, and objective markers that do not depend on behavioral cooperation are therefore needed. This exploratory observational case study investigated whether Frequency-Following Responses (FFRs) can capture measurable within-subject change in speech-evoked neural encoding in a pediatric patient with FASD.

Methods

FFRs were recorded at two time points bracketing an eight-session period of non-invasive superficial neuromodulation (NESA®) in an 8-year-old girl with FASD, using speech syllables (/da/, /ba/, /ga/) presented monaurally at 80 dB SPL. Two-tailed block-level Mann-Whitney U tests with rank-biserial correlations compared peak latencies, sustained pitch-tracking metrics (pitch strength, pitch error), onset stimulus-response correlation, and signal-to-noise ratio.

Results

Sustained pitch-tracking metrics differed between time points, with increased pitch strength and reduced pitch error, whereas onset peak latencies, onset cross-correlation, and signal-to-noise ratio remained stable. Peak C, marking the transition to the sustained portion of the response, occurred earlier at the post-assessment in all six stimulus-ear combinations. The differences were therefore selective to sustained encoding rather than to onset timing or recording quality.

Conclusions

FFR-derived pitch-encoding metrics detected measurable within-subject change, providing proof of concept for the feasibility of FFRs as a candidate objective tool for longitudinal monitoring of speech-evoked neural encoding in pediatric FASD. This single-case observation does not evaluate diagnostic accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, or discrimination from typically developing children, and therefore does not establish FFR as a validated diagnostic technique. The findings are hypothesis-generating and motivate controlled longitudinal studies.